I think part of that stems from me not being terribly active on the web; despite the fact that I am literally on the web at least 50 hours/week.  Doesn’t make much sense for me to not be more active.

So as a result of me deciding to not take the blog down and turn it into a development project, I had to come up with something that will actually allow me to actively post and update the site on a regular basis.  That “something” is what I’m sure MANY if not all other serious bloggers do: make a list.

I now have a list of about 15 or so topics that I know I can write about.  I intend to use that list as my plan for posts.  Ideally, I’d like to keep the list at about 10-15 new topics at any given time so that when I actually sit down to blog, I can have a good selection of ideas to choose from rather than just drawing a blank.

Simply creating the list has taken quite the load off my shoulders.   So I’m excited to announce that I have made blogging more frequently a personal goal; and I just took my first step in the right direction.

As I stated in my last post, my concerns with doing that were basically around my recent inactivity and how I wasn’t sure taking down the site would be my best move since I couldn’t find the time to blog in the first place.  Well all of that has changed now.

I am attempting to turn over a new leaf and become more active in general.  I have spent the last year trying to get  acclimated with my new surroundings and not really doing much of anything.  Being a hermet. With my girlfriend. Staying in and doing the same thing over and over.

So getting more active with my site is my ultimate decision.  I can develop it as I go; contually adding new features and customizing the site to fit my needs as I get more familiar with PHP, SQL and programming in general.  Not to mention the front end side of things with HTML/CSS.  I’ll need to make an effort to learn more about the details around HTML 5 that’s supposed to be released soon enough, but let’s take one thing at a time.

I have a real issue with getting overwhelmed often because I like to think about everything as a whole.  And if there’s anything I’ve learned in recent months, its that taking things one step at a time is the only real way to get stuff done and take the neccessary actions to change things.  So that is what I’m doing.  Taking things one at a time. And this site is one of those things.

But there is much more to come in the next 6 months.  I have many plans in the works (mwah). Obviously its all a work in progress, but I assure you that the stagnant Dan is slowly going bye bye.  As things unfold, I will be keeping you all up to date.  That is, I’ll give updates in between all of my ramblings and unwanted opinions. :)

Some of the ramblings I plan to post going forward include, but are not limited to:

• Beer/wine reviews
• Photography “exhibitions”
• More music related posts
• Wonderful techie geek stuff
• And of course, good ‘ol SEO

Stay tuned, all (2 of you)!

So as I unintentionally made a false promise to be more active on my site, I have been contemplating taking down the current site you see here and redeveloping the site from concept to design.  I will still use WordPress as my platform most likely, but it just seems that I need to come up with a better idea for my site than what I currently use it for (which is almost nothing lately).

Originally I got the site so I could A) have my domain name registered to me and B) have a blog I could use to interact in the blogosphere and contribute to the web.  Well as I stated in my last post, there have been a LOT of changes in my life recently.  My interests in the oh-so-wonderfully tech/geeky world has just sky rocketed.  Especially when it comes to the web and programming.

I have recently enrolled in O’Reilly School of Technology’s PHP/SQL Programming Certification.  It has opened my eyes to a new world of possibility for me and I have been enjoying it quite a bit.  Especially when you combine that with my recent switch to the Ubuntu operating system.  Those two things combined have been the catalyst for my recent extreme interest in the tech world.  And the more I learn about it, the more I want to be a part of it.

With all of that being said, I also have other passions for which I would like to use my website.  The geeky stuff can be talked about, sure.  But I plan to use most of my knowledge gained from all of that to further enhance my website.  So apart from techie blurbs and rants, I would ultimately like to have a site where I can express all of my interests.  I just have to figure out how I’m going to do that.  I’ve thrown around the idea of having different websites for all of my respective interests, but I’m just not sure that’s realistic.  Especially considering the fact that I can’t even keep up with my own site at the moment.

At any rate, I am going to travel down one of two paths with this site:

1. Take the site down and put up a temporary splash page while making the site what I want it to be
2. Keep the site up and stay active with it while I continually enhance the site’s features

My only fear in traveling down the second path is that the same thing happens again.  I publish a post saying that I will become more active only to become stagnant once again.  But on the flipside, the first path will probably take longer to actually accomplish.

So I have to make a decision.  If I have ANY readers at ALL (and I highly doubt that I do just yet), feel free to post a comment with your opinion.  Either way, I would like to have a decision made sooner than later.  I plan to act on my choice this weekend, June 13-14 2009.

Cheers!

I took a Natural Search Marketing Analyst position at a top-tier natural search company called Netconcepts

They really have their act together in a lot of ways and I am so excited to grow and learn from this new opportunity. I have the chance to work with several industry leaders that speak at conferences and author many search related articles and blogs.

The company primarily deals with IR 500 (or better) companies and websites. So I will get the chance to work with some great/huge clients. I’m sure it will be challenging, but I feel like it will be a great fit for me. This is my first week (starting Monday, May 19 2008) and have spent most of my time training and reading various materials, but by next week I should be on my way and have some clients assigned to me.

Furthermore, I plan on being much more active with my blogs. Both danreno.com and movienik.com. They have been a little neglected for the last few months (for various reasons, but my previous job being the primary) and hope to change that ASAP. And since my new position is exclusive to natural search, I will probably be posting much much more in my SEO category. Obviously I won’t be letting any secrets go or anything like that, but anything I can share, I will.

So stay tuned for more news in Reno’s Realm. There is much more to come.

This is seriously the best show i’ve seen in a very long time. Maybe it had something to do with the thrill of it though. Because this is also the first time I didn’t have my tickets in advance. I had been wanting to go since I found out about it, but there was a possibility I could miss it due to these conferences for work I thought I might have to go to. So needless to say, I didn’t get to go to the conferences so I was able to go to this concert.

And I am extremely happy I was able to go to this because it really was worth it. I’m still not happy I missed the conference for work (because they are so important for what I do) but at least I can say there is a definite upside to not being able to make either of them.

Now, this should have been my 3rd time seeing LOG and my second time seeing KSE. But I lost the tickets to the previous KSE show I was supposed to go see (which would have been at the Chicago House of Blues). I was not happy about that at the time. And if I would have known how good they are in concert, I would have been even more pissed. So this was actually my 3rd time seeing LOG and only my first time seeing KSE.

Lamb of God Band Pic

As much as I like Killswitch Engage, I have to say I went to see Lamb of God. And I was very surprised to hear that they were not the closer. But that didn’t matter too much, they still had a great set. I was most excited about the fact that they were going to be at Congress Theater. I had seen Slipknot and Unearth there before and it was a killer show. So before I actually saw it, I could only imagine what a LOG show would be like at Congress Theater; and it was just as crazy as I thought it would be. They PACKED the house. Waaaay more than Slipknot did (not surprisingly).

LOG actually had some technical difficulties during the show, which really kinda sucked. So much so that one of the guitarists was actually off stage for what seemed like about 2 songs. I remember my brother being like “dude, aren’t they missing someone?” But I gotta hand it to them, even with the issues they had, they still just rocked the place. The breakdown at the beginning of the song “Walk With Me in Hell” was one of the most bad ass things I’ve witnessed. There was no wall of death for “Black Label”, but that’s ok. Congress isn’t as great of a place for something like that; at least not like the lawn seating at Ozzfest was. That was the biggest pit I’ve ever seen. Randy, the lead singer of LOG, said it was the biggest pit of the summer. I know that’s kinda one of those things bands just say, but I really wouldn’t doubt that it was. I mean, they even mentioned it last night at this concert (completely separate tour).

Killswitch Engage Band Pic

So after LOG got off stage, they started setting up for KSE and you could tell that it was going to be a great show. They were putting up ramps, new lights, new backdrops… just the works. And as soon as they came on and started playing, it was apparent that it really was a KSE show last night. It was just obvious that they had the most fans there as the show went on. People were really getting into it. I knew they were big, but I didn’t expect them to out-show LOG.

And as I’m listening to all the KSE I have today at work, I would almost say that you really shouldn’t judge them until you see them live. They’re just that good. Howard Jones, the lead singer, was nothing short of perfect. And Adam Dutkiewicz, that lanky goof with the glasses in the pic above was a riot. Crackin’ jokes between songs and just having a great time dressed in his skeleton suit and cape. But I think the thing I love most about this band is the drummer, Justin Foley. Not that he’s like some ridiculously amazing drummer that is better than everyone else or anything (like Hate Eternal’s drummer, Derek Roddy), but because of his simplicity. He really doesn’t have that huge or necessarily impressive drum set, but man can he really make the best of it. I mean, he plays in a modern day metal band, so obviously the double bass drumming is essential, yet he only uses one bass drum. And he’s really good at it. He had a very small solo at the show and it was freakin awesome. And he seems like an awesome dude, too. Here’s a pic with him and a fan:

Baahahahaha… He looks like a gnome or something!

Overall, the whole band seems like an awesome bunch of dudes. And you can tell they really love performing, too. They just shine on stage and I really wish I would have seen them at the House of Blues last year. But oh well, at least I can say I’ve seen them now. And to all that were in Chicago, like the music, and didn’t go… Shame on you. But also thanks for not going because then I might not have been able to get tickets ;)

So the moral of the story is… if you get a chance to see them on this tour, do it. Period. You won’t regret it. I certainly didn’t.

SEOdr

And my Resume in the SEOmoz Marketplace:

Check out the SEO Services Marketplace

If you haven’t seen that already, I really recommend that you check it out.

Search Engine Strategies: Chicago

PubCon 2007

I’ve expressed my interest in them to my company, but for some reason I just don’t think I’ll be making it to either of them. Well, actually, it would be impossible to make it to both and be worth while since they’re happening during the same week.

Last year, a colleague of mine and I were able to go to one day of the SES Chicago. We took so much great info from that day alone. Which is why I really want to go to one of these for the whole week.

Like I said before, I have been to SES so I know a little bit about what that one has to offer. But to be honest, I really think the PubCon conference will be a better conference for serious SEO’s. All of the top dogs will be there, its a lot cheaper and its in Vegas.

But that being said, I definitely think that SES would be more than worth it to attend if only for one day again. I mean, it is local so its kind of a no-brainer. Especially considering how much value I got from that one day last year.

Oh well… There will be others to go to. I just need to dig up all I can about any new info that might have been presented at the events. I think there are also internet radio stations that will have coverage of the events.

So Maynard James Keenan released a new album under the name Puscifer. It was originally introduced to me in the Underworld Evolutions soundtrack. My little brother told me about it and, being the huge fan of Maynard that I am, I looked into it immediately. So I bought the new album, V is for Vagina and I just have to say I really liked it.

It really isn’t too much like any of his other work with Tool or even A Perfect Circle for that matter. But I always go into new experiences with an open mind and no expectations. It was no different this time and I was very pleased with the ride I took.

If any of you are fans of either Tool or APC, I would say check this out, but keep in mind that it is different. I definitely hear some of Maynard’s singing style he brought from the APC album, eMotive, but other than that I really can’t see too many similarities with anything else he’s done.

With that being said, Maynard worked with a number of other people on this project. Danny Lohner being the name that stuck out the most. As some of you may know, Danny Lohner was involved with a lot of great bands in this area. I know he’s worked with Trent Reznor on multiple albums and even Maynard and Billy Howerdel for APC. So to me, this just kinda shows that Maynard is branching out in his artistic style.

And to be honest, I’m freakin excited Maynard has gone down this path. Let me explain in one word: Tapeworm. Tapeworm was a project that was comprised of mostly NIN band members as well as Maynard and some other people including Phil Anselmo. As far as I understood it, the main reason this project could never come to fruition due to record label contracts and things like that. So, with recent news that Trent Reznor is no longer confined by his record label and Maynard is doing his own thing with Lohner included, I really really hope this means that Tapeworm is going to come back to life (if you could ever say it was alive in the first place).

In conclusion, I say YAY FOR PUSCIFER!!!

BTW, when you heard about this, did you wonder about the name? I sure as hell did. I mean, I guess Puscifer is this creature that Maynard created, but what about the name? If its original, I can only imagine how Maynard came up with that. My thoughts are that its a combination of one of the devil’s names (Lucifer) and a slang term for female pubic hairs (pussy fur). So I guess if you wanted to break it out mathematically (I know, I’m heavy), it would go something like this:

Lucifer + Pussy Fur = Puscifer

But I don’t know, I could be totally off. What do you think? And I’m sorry for anyone offended by some of the word usage here, but in this instance, I really don’t care. If you understand Maynard, then you would understand why it was necessary.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

So thanks for comin’ by… Sorry there’s not too much goin’ on here yet but I promise there’s more to come soon.